Review of Gregory's Girl (1980) by Dana G — 29 Jul 2008

In presenting himself as a watered down Scottish Almodovar, Bill Forsyth's pop culture study of teen romance ends up a very mixed bag. Gormless plank Gregory, a kind of Scottish Ray Darcy, is in the middle stages of puberty, wearing it like a sore thumb.

Dorothy, a sophisticated tomboy, becomes the object of his affections, and in one of the picture's better narrative threads, a complete role reversal sees Forsyth's talents reach fruition. In between, the sense that Forsyth wants to engage in some kind of quasi-magical realism without fully exploring it leaves gaping holes in the direction, while the gender politics do tend to border on Daily Mail style tit for tat feminism, rather than any real dynamic between the two sexes.

Occasional quirky moments provide some positives, especially the glorious sunset scene with Sinclair and the charming Clare Grogan, others, like the creepy changing room dancing scene with Dorothy and the football coach cast huge question marks upon Forsyth's jugement.

Because of its "small time" aesthetics, it's possible that Gregory's Girl gets a lot more plaudits than it deserves, its redeeming factors thus fall to quirky bit part characters who exude Scottish charm without ever resorting to racial cliches.